Culture George Ritzer Presented by Rolande D. Dathis Chapter 4 Culture George Ritzer Presented by Rolande D. Dathis

Definition of culture Group Society vv Ideas Values Practices Material objects Internal changes External changes C Collective Lives Age: older people- Young people

Culture A compilation of ideas, values, practices, and material objects that are important to a group of individuals, even at the level of the whole society, and that make them to conduct their collectives lives in relative order and harmony (Ritzer 2015).

Basic elements of culture Symbolic culture and language V Norms Values Material culture Mores Symbolic culture Folkways Laws Norms Language Sanctions

Basic elements of culture Values : abstracts standards or ideas that a group or the entire society regards as good, desirable, right, or important. Norms: informal rule that guides appropriate behavior in a given situation. Material Culture: “ All of the material objects that are reflections or manifestations of a culture”(Ritzer 2015p113).

Basic elements of culture Symbolic culture: “aspects of culture that exist in nonmaterial forms” (Ritzer 2015p114). Language: “ A set of meaningful symbols that makes possible the communication of culture as well as communication more generally within a given culture, and that calls out the same meaning in the person to whom and utterance is aimed as it does to the person making the utterance”(Ritzer 2015p 114).

Types of Norms Norms : informal rules that guides appropriate behavior for a given situation. Laws: “ a norm that has been codified, or written down, and is formally enforced through institutions such as the state”(Ritzer 2015p 112).

Types of Norms Sanctions: rewards are given for accepting the norms (positive sanctions) and punishments for violating the norms (Ritzer 2015). Folkways: norms that are not important, and if violated, carry few if any sanctions (Ritzer 2015). Mores: norms of great importance whose violation is likely to be met with strong sanctions (Ritzer 2015).

Cultural differences Cultural difference Ideal and real culture High and Low culture Multiculturalism and Assimilation Ideology High Ideal Real Assimilation Low Subcultures Countercultures Multiculturalism Culture wars Identity Politics Cultural Relativism and Ethnocentrism

Cultural differences Ideal culture – norms and values that members of society claim to follow and believe. Real Culture - norms and values that people actually follow everyday. Subculture- a group that operates within the structure of the dominant culture but that are set apart by one or more important characteristics.

Cultural differences Multiculturalism- an environment in which cultural differences are respected and celebrated by the majority group. Assimilation- the integration of a minority group to the mainstream culture. Cultural Relativism- the principle that diverse cultures have different norms and values, and that none are superiors to any others.

Cultural differences Ethnocentrism- the view that the norms, values , traditions, and symbols of our own culture are superior to those of other cultural groups. High Culture- a set of cultural products related to societal elites and thought of as aesthetically rich. Low culture(popular culture)- a set of cultural products that have appeal to the masses.

Emerging issues in culture Consumer Culture Global Culture Children in a consumer culture Globalization of values Culture imperialism Online shopping Cultural jamming Americanization Cyberculture Anti- Americanization Prosumers

Emerging issues in culture Global culture- Globalization of values, cultural imperialism, Americanization, anti-Americanization. Consumer culture- Conspicuous consumption, social aspects of consumption, postconsumer culture, culture jamming.